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GC Labcell said Thursday that it has signed an agreement with AbClon to develop a CAR-NK cell treatment jointly.

Under the agreement, the two companies plan to develop a next-generation global CAR-NK anticancer cell therapy through core technology exchange between GC Labcell’s advanced knowledge in cell therapy and AbClon’s technology. AbClon has a platform to develop antibodies that bind to various parts of diseased proteins and derive candidate antibody drug candidates with excellent efficacy.

CAR (chimeric antigen receptor)-NK (natural killer) is a next-generation cell therapy drug that increases the cancer-killing power of NK cells by expressing CAR protein, which only binds to cancer cells. The treatment is next-generation immunotherapy that increases apoptosis in cancer cells.

As of now, the core technology for the development of anti-cancer immunotherapeutic drugs focuses on the development of antibodies that recognize target disease proteins.

“Along with this joint development agreement, we are steadily acquiring the unique technology necessary for the development of next-generation anti-cancer immunotherapy,” GC Labcell CEO Park Dae-woo said. “The company will accelerate its efforts to become the world leader in the field.”

AbClon CEO Lee Jong-seo also said, “By using our core NEST platform technology, which is widely applicable to disease proteins, GC Labcell’s CAR-NK anti-cancer immunotherapeutic drug will become a new global drug, We expect the two companies' new drug development will become more resilient through active cooperation for the development of new cell therapy products.”